Campbell Newman – former Premier for Queensland

Campbell Newman, former Premier of Queensland, on: Future economies, robotics, life after politics and reconnecting with friends.

In the lead up to interviewing Campbell Newman, Richard was a bit nervous. He’d never met Campbell before and he is a man with a strong reputation and somebody who has achieved many things for Brisbane and Queensland throughout his career. But Richard was delighted by Campbell’s humbleness and openness. He found him to be a man of great intentions and one who strives to live a life of service.

Born in Canberra to parents who both represented Tasmania in Federal Parliament, Campbell’s father was in the Australian Army and his family moved around a lot when he was a child. Interestingly, both of his parents voted for Gough Whitlam in the 1972 election but his father later went on to serve in the Fraser Government and his mother in the Howard Government.

Campbell joined the Australian Army as a staff cadet at the Royal Military College Duntroon in 1981. He spent 13 years serving in the army before eventually leaving with a Bachelor of Civil Engineering with Honours from the University of New South Wales.

Campbell later moved to Queensland to complete an MBA at the University of Queensland, which led him to a role consulting for PA Consulting Group and then working for GrainCorp. Campbell inevitably followed a path into politics, first as Lord Mayor of Brisbane and subsequently as Queensland Premier. He has since left politics and currently has an interesting career in the board space.

He is the Director of Arcana Capital and LinkSprite Australia and the Chairman of Swarmfarm Robotics. Campbell said that post politics, after considering what he wanted to do professionally, he decided he wanted to restart a business career particularly within future economies. He is also enjoying reconnecting with friends and having free time following the demands of political life.

“It’s liberating, how fantastic it is to be able to do the things I want to do,” he said.

Campbell and his wife Lisa live in Brisbane and they have two daughters.

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